The Northern Rivers Times
November 9, 2023
14 NEWS
LETTERS & OPINIONS - OPEN LETTER TO RICHMOND VALLEY COUNCIL MAYOR AND COUNCILLORS
The world’s most shop-lifted book Title: The Bible Author: Many Price: Varies Publisher: God By Samantha Elley You’ve more than likely heard of it, maybe even picked it up and flicked through it with mild curiosity, but have you ever actually delved into the most read book in the world – The Bible. With its two sections, the Old and New Testament, and 66 core books, it contains all genres of literature. There is history, poetry, wisdom, romance, self-help, teaching stories, drama, war, and some would even say, science fiction and fantasy. Be warned, dealing with humans is always going to be messy, so there is of course, intrigue, polygamy, murder, incest, and all manner of depravity.
But on the flipside, there is hope, renewal, compassion, mercy and, of course, love written within its pages. There is something for everyone and with the more modern versions and children’s picture versions, all levels are catered for. While it is the best selling book of all time, it is also one of the most shoplifted. Thieves might need to take a little peek at Exodus 20:15. It was the first book to be printed with moveable type by Johann Gutenberg, producing the Gutenberg Bible in 1455 in Germany. Apparently, even the Bible is prone to mistakes, with the Sinner’s Bible, published in 1631, when the 7th commandment was mistakenly printed as “Thou shalt commit adultery”. Only nine copies exist out of 1,000 today. You can pick up any version of the bible from https://koorong.com/ category/bibles or check your bookshelves at
To the Mayor and Councillors, We would like to express our concern at the recent action of the Richmond Valley Council (RVC) to advertise the Northern Rivers Livestock Exchange (NRLX) for tender for a long-term Lease. Again, we believe you are acting in haste without offering the community insight into a well-constructed business model, which clearly demonstrates to ratepayers and stakeholders the costs and benefits to the community. Our primary desire for the NRLX is to see it shine as a local icon, built by the Northern Rivers community, for the community and supported by State and Federal Government Community development grants. The character of Casino and outlying townships are strongly linked to the Beef Industry and the connections locals feel for it via personal, employment and cultural connections. Your recent statements
which claim the community has made it clear they do not wish the RVC to manage the NRLX is totally erroneous. What the community wants is for the NRLX to be well-managed, including with the input of stakeholders who hold genuine expertise with regards to the selling of stock, in a positive and cooperative manner. It is deeply disappointing that all recent motions across two Public Meetings, and numerous other contacts, have been utterly dismissed without a genuine effort on your behalf to explain the Council’s position. Again, we ask • why is the Council refusing Mediation? • Why is the Council refusing to create an Advisory Committee? • Why has the Council allowed the NRLX to remain closed rather than allow a continuation of the Agent Agreement while thoughtful decisions be made? • Why didn’t the RVC take the opportunity
to speak about alternative visions for the NRLX at either Public Meeting? • Why are we rushing to a long-term lease—possibly to outside interests—at breakneck speed? Will the 2023 RVC Council be remembered as the Council who sold out the heartbeat of Casino for profits? Does this Council lack faith in local community expertise to further develop the NRLX at a local level in the manner of Norco, The Casino Food Co-op and numerous lighthouse businesses across Australia. While the grants attained by the RVC for the NRLX are to be applauded, our greatest fear is that this Community Asset, built by cattlemen over decades and supported by numerous Councils over this time, is about to be tendered to the slickest tender, who will rip profits out of the local
community, motivated by the need to meet shareholder expectations. Surely, we do not need to spell out where the profits of such a company will be derived – increased costs to cattle producers, increased fees to all users and diminished returns to the local community. It is untenable to imagine a multinational corporation take over of the Casino stockyards. For this reason, we are in the process of creating a Community Cooperative to tender for the NRLX. We would prefer to do this in partnership with the Council, as this would be the best outcome for the Northern Rivers as a whole. We request the Council review the timeline for the tender period and support a Community Cooperative tender to be developed and submitted. Regards, Allan Berry, Kasee Estreich, Neil and Penny Schneider, Roger Bailey and Jenifer Handford.
NO ENERGY-FROM-WASTE FACILITY PROPOSED FOR RICHMOND VALLEY DESPITE widespread misinformation, there is no proposal for an energyfrom-waste facility to be built in the Richmond Valley. Richmond Valley Council’s General Manager Vaughan Macdonald said the Regional Job Precinct at Casino had been identified in the NSW Government’s Energy from Waste Infrastructure Plan as a site where an energyfrom-waste facility may be permissible, subject to development approval in the future. However, Mr Macdonald said Council had no intention of building such a facility and no one else had come forward with a proposal to do so. He said Council had investigated a range of options for dealing with residual waste because the current practice of landfilling waste and/or transporting it to Queensland was unsustainable. “Despite our successful recycling and organics programs, our community still creates more than 9000 tonnes of residual waste each year,” Mr Macdonald said.
“We transport most of this waste to Queensland landfill sites, at an annual cost of more than $2 million.” Mr Macdonald said most councils on the North Coast were experiencing similar challenges with waste and Richmond Valley Council had worked with 12 other councils to explore alternatives. He said as part of this process, modern energyfrom-waste facilities were investigated as a possible solution, however, Richmond Valley Council resolved at its November 2022 meeting to pause any active investigation of energy-from-waste facilities and to focus on other waste streams such as food organics and recycling. He said although energyfrom-waste facilities had been operating overseas for more than 20 years, they were new to Australia and both the Federal and State governments were still refining the regulatory issues around them, informed by detailed assessments by the NSW Government’s Chief Scientist and Engineer. “Energy-from-waste
facilities are too hi-tech and expensive for Council to contemplate building, so any future proposal would need to come from private enterprise,” Mr Macdonald said. “A private investor would first have to determine if such a facility was commercially viable, find a suitable block of land, and go through a lengthy assessment and approval process with the NSW Government. “This would include extensive consultation with the community and environmental regulators to obtain a social licence for the facility. “If a facility was approved, it would take several years to construct and commission and would then be subject to 24-hour emissions monitoring by regulators.” Mr Macdonald said because there were many unknowns in this scenario, Council had no commitment to supporting the building of an energy-from-waste facility and continued to consider all options for its residual waste. He said there were a lot of opinions about current waste issues and
Richmond Valley Council was keeping an open mind about possible solutions as it worked to resolve the community’s residual waste problem. “Council is finalising the construction of a new landfill cell at its Nammoona facility, which will provide capacity for more than 10 years of residual waste from the Richmond Valley,” he said. “We will continue to explore other technologies and processes to manage the waste generated by our residents and businesses.” Mr Macdonald said Council would monitor any developments elsewhere in NSW, such as the Parkes Special Activation Precinct where a procurement process was underway for an energyfrom-waste facility. “We have been transparent on this issue throughout and will continue to provide regular updates to our community through Council reports and other communications,” he said. “However, we need to be clear on the fact there is currently no proposal for an energy-from-waste facility in the Richmond Valley.”
